Chestnut Vine or Vietnamese Vine, Tetrastigma voinierianum

FAMILY:
Vitaceae

ORIGIN:
Southeast Asia

DESCRIPTION:
Climber with densely, red-brown stems; leaves are 3 – 5 palmate, 6 – 16″ long with broadly diamond-shaped to obovate, coarsely toothed leaflets brownish yellow and hairy beneath; yellowish green flowers are borne in dense umbels on mature plants followed by small acidic berries; grows to 50 ft.

CULTIVATION:
Water moderately; fertilize monthly; bright, indirect light

PROPAGATION:
Semi-ripe cuttings

COMMENTS:
On the raised veins of the lower leaf of mature specimens, you will observe on each leaflet, what appears to be butterfly eggs – but upon closer inspection they are many-celled structures which are part of the plant, and are rich in lipid oil droplets (pearl bodies or pearl glands).

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